Improvement in hedge-trimmers



vJOHN SLAM.

Hedge 'rmmer- Paened jan. 30, 187g..

f drinn@ /U @KQ/0 I (fyi/W02@ www JOHN BLACK, OF EUREKA, ILLINOIS.

lidPROl/ EMENT IN HEDGE-TRHVIMERS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 123,224, dated January 30, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN BLACK, of Eureka, in the county of Toodford and in the State of Illinois, have invented a Device for Cutting or Trimming Hedges or Bushes; and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawing making a part of this specification, in which like letters of reference refer to like parts, and in which- Figure l represents the hedge-clamp as used on a hedge, Fig. 2, view of lower surface of same; Fig. end view; Fig. 4, cutter; Fig. 5, end view of same.

rlhis invention consists of two long pieces of timber, (a convenientlength being sixteenfeet,) jointed together at one end and drawn together by a screw-clamp at the other end, by which means the interior edges of sa-id pieces of timber act as a clamp to draw together into a line the branches of a line of hedge or bushes to be thus held solidly while a saw,'if a stout hedge, or a cutter if a lighter hedge, is applied to sever the whole edge above the surface of the board or pieces of timber. Scale of drawing is on one-third of an inch to one foot.

A A represents a line of hedge inclosed by the clamp ready for the application of the saw or cutter; B B', two long boards or scant lings,77 strengthened by a strip, a a', securely fastened to the inner edge of each board, and also to act as a surface for the saw to move upon. These strips should be covered with a steel plate or bar beveled upward toward the inner edge of the clamp to form an auxiliary cutting-edge, against which the knife or cutter C may operate. The inner edges of each board B B and strips a a are made slightly convex to obviate any strain (in closing them together) which might tend to make them separate more in the middle than at the ends. The boards are attached together at one end by a joint, Z, one on either side of the boards, or above and below, being flat bars of iron of equal length, having slots in either end, through which they are bolted to the boards B B', the slots being for the adjustment of the boards at certain distances to suit the size of the branches of the hedge. The remoter ends of the clamp B B are broughttoget-her by a screwclamp, d, being a screw, d, and winch g set in a swivel-collar, c, beneath the board B and passing through an eye or staple, f, cut with a corresponding thread on the opposite board B. An auxiliary notched catch, i, is blaced near said screw d to hold the ends ofthe clamp b b together until the end ofthe screw-clam p can be adjusted in the eye on the opposite board. rlhis catch t is simply a pivoted bar notched on one edge, and engaging with a staple on the opposite board. lt is designed also to use another serew-clamp at the other end of the hedge-clamp, or even in the middle, if necessary. The cutter O has two curved arms, h h t' fi, both having upright handles at their outer extremities, and are pivoted at their junction or middle part in the clamp j, which has a vertical side, lc, with a sharp edge, (verticah) l, which bites the edge of one of the strips a c, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, when the cutter is at work. The outer curve of the arm i t' is a sharp cutting-edge along its whole length.

The operation of this invention is as follows: Thejointed pieces B B are placedhorizontally, one at either side of the hedge intended to be cut, the catcht and screw d being disconnected from the piece B for this purpose. These free ends of the clamp B B are now pushed together so as to inclose between them all the top branches ot' the hedge at the height at which it is desired to sever them. The ends bearing the screw-clamp d and the notched catch i are now temporarily held by the e11- trance of the latter into its staple until the screw l is engaged in the eye j' ofthe adjoining piece. 'lhe screw is then turned by the winch g until all the branches and twigs are reduced to one common line and held solidly between the whole length of the hedge-clamp B B. (See Fig. l.) This row of branches may now be severed close to the projecting inner edges of the clamp a a by means of a saw, whose teeth are liled back more than the teeth of ordinary cross-cut saws. This saw is used for cutting stout hedges. Smaller or lighter ones are trimmed wit-h the cutter O by placing the vertical side of the pivot-plate j (if the operator is on the side of B') against the outer side of the piece a on clamp B, and at the left end of said board or clamp-one of the handles of the cutter in either hand and the cutting,` curved edge pressed against the inclosed branchesthe edge ofthe strip a behind said branches, armed With the beforementioned steel edge, acts as a shear in conjunction with the edge 0i' the cutter C. The pivot-plate j is prevented from sliding back by the sharp re-entering` edge Z of the vertical side of said plate j, and, as the branches aire severed, the cutter is advanced in this inanner, the edge k keeping; it up to the branches.

What I claim as my invention isl. The hedge-clamp B B with its raised inner edges a a', joint b, and notched catch z', substantially as described.

2. In combination with raised edges or pieces a a', the cutter C with its pivot-plate j, side k, and edge l, and vertical handles Z l, sub stantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing hedgeclarnp and cutter, I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of October, A. I). 1871. Witnesses: JOHN BLACK.

HENRY W. WELLS, J oHN BARON. 

